Jil Sander / Spring 2012 RTW

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Where Raf Simons of Jil Sander leads, others are sure to follow. Even the most cursory glance at the spring shows reveals his influence, what with the use of neon color, the collision of athleticism and couture, and the predominance of the peplum just about everywhere you look. Of course, this season is the precise moment that Simons has decided to move on, locating his inspiration in the mid-century modern design movement, which was born out of an era of postwar reconstruction that envisioned a brave new world twinning humanism with urbanity. Anyway, enough with the conceptual theory, let’s cut to the critical chase. All of this is a way of saying that with his accomplished and wonderful Jil Sander show, Simons relentlessly pursued an elegance that was fifties in appearance, but relentlessly forward thinking in attitude.

That was evident from the very opening looks, with impeccably cut and deliciously severe white poplin sheath dresses whose starting point was the classic shirt; the soignée vision they conjured up thrown by the kinky/clinical white lace-front, zip-back boots that hugged the legs. (Later, the brilliant Stephen Jones–designed ski hats with veils would have the same effect.) A white cotton sheath this strict isn’t exactly for everyone, true, but think of it as a palate cleanser, marking the transition between what Simons had done for Sander recently, and where he would take it with this show. From then on, Simons moved through jackets, dresses, and coats, as tightly and expertly tailored as they were controlled, some configured with button fronts, or superslim three-tiered skirts, and all trimmed at the small of the back with gleaming crystal clips. (They also sparkled at the earlobes, so consider this notice that the return of costume jewelry is but a twinkle away.)

Simons has of late proved himself an original and inventive colorist and extremely adept at print; this time ’round, exquisite shades of deep green and raspberry, and a stylized Paisley that zinged in pink and purple as much as it was sober in black and white. Simons alluded to his mid-century theme further via the ceramics that Picasso created in Vallauris, rendering their abstracted 2-D visages on small, graphic sweaters. (Incidentally, the first time that the Picasso estate has allowed their use.) To close, four white cotton wedding dresses, done simply because the designer wondered what the Sander lover might want to wear when she decides to declare another kind of love.

Backstage, after taking his bow to rapturous applause, Simons articulated what he’d been thinking. “Everything in our world today refers back to that mid-century moment; it’s the most important era,” he said. “But it’s not just that. It’s also about how a woman looks after herself: the idea of her going to the beauty parlor, and of women being beautified by women, and the dialog that creates.” And with this thinking, Simons sourced a profound idea of chic for women that speaks to women. The hair, for instance, swept back off the face, recalled the look of Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest. A mid-century modern late period Frank Lloyd Wright–style house played its part in the climactic closing scenes of that 1959 Hitchcock movie, but its real and potent symbol of the age was Saint’s smoldering, confident presence, her sensuality rooted in the care and attention to how she put herself together. Thanks to Simons, it is with us again, and available to any woman who wants to feel like a grown-up come spring.